2008-2009 Volunteer Job Descriptions

          Length of positions: August 18th, 2008-June 1st, 2009

Note: Volunteers may choose to participate in the 2008 DREAM Guzman Ariza Summer Camp, starting June 29th, 2008 at no extra charge. Click here to download a volunteer application.

SITE: Puerto Cabarete School

LOCATION: Downtown Cabarete

Library/Computer Lab Coordinator

Requirements:

• Education: college degree and/or experience with computers and/or business management
• Spanish Skills: medium-strong
  

Duties to include:

• Planning and facilitating all activities that take place in Puerto Cabarete’s library and computer lab.
• Establish a set schedule and rules for library usage, with daily activities including computer classes, open computer hours, library tutorial sessions and book checkout time.
• Teach some classes and run certain small group sessions.
• Recruit and train locals from the community who will serve as long-term managers of these facilities. This volunteer will play a key role in moving these programs towards achieving self-sufficiency. 
• Maintaining an inventory of and caring for all library and computer lab materials, and will alert DREAM staff when repairs or restocking is necessary. 

Parent-Teacher Coordinator/Director’s Assistant

This volunteer serves as the link between our organization and Puerto Cabarete’s parents, students and school staff.

Requirements:

• Education: college degree and/or background in education or social work preferable
• Spanish Skills: strong
  

Duties to include:

• Will work in large part with our Parent Association, as well as with students and teachers, to facilitate group participation in life at the school. 
• Will attend school meetings, organize parent workshops, and help plan fundraisers, work with the youth group, and work directly with Puerto Cabarete’s school director to implement greater change within the school. 
• May entail occasional visits to students’ homes, and will probably require an irregular work schedule (occasional nights and weekends, when parents are available to meet, for example). 

Classroom Assistant 

This position is paired up with two of Puerto Cabarete’s elementary school teachers and works directly within the classroom environment. 

Requirements:

• Education: college degree and/or experience working with children
• Spanish Skills: basic-strong
  

Duties to include:

• This volunteer will spend a large portion, if not all of the school day, in selected classrooms assisting the teachers and introducing new activities and teaching practices.  The assigned teachers will be one of a number of teachers participating in DREAM’s teacher training program, in which highly motivated teachers from our schools are given the opportunity to become trained in new methodologies.
• Will work with both the teachers and the students, supplementing the teacher’s activities and supporting him or her with lesson planning.  
• Will be expected to attend teacher workshops that are sometimes held in the evenings or on weekends.

Physical Education Coordinator

This position is in charge of planning and executing organized recess activities on school grounds. 

Requirements:

• Education: college degree and/or experience working with children
• Spanish Skills: medium-strong
  

Duties to include:

• Involves developing a feasible plan for recess time, obtaining necessary equipment and materials, and working to solicit parent and student volunteers to run the activities. 
• Will assist with programming in the library during off-hours, as well as oversee the DREAM Watersports Team. This program, directed by local windsurfing legend Pablito Guzman, works with selected children from DREAM affiliated schools to develop swimming, windsurfing, and kite surfing skills.
• Will serve as DREAM’s point person for the Watersports Team project, working on program logistics and facilitating program development. 

SITE: La Colonia Nueva

LOCATION: Callejón de la Loma, Cabarete (a Dominican neighborhood just outside Cabarete center)

Classroom Assistant

The Classroom Assistant is paired up with two of Colonia Nueva’s elementary school teachers and works directly within the classroom environment. 

Requirements:

• Education: college degree and/or experience working with children
• Spanish Skills: basic-strong
  

Duties to include:

• This volunteer will spend a large portion, if not all of the school day, in selected classrooms assisting the teachers and introducing new activities and teaching practices.  The assigned teachers will be one of a number of teachers participating in DREAM’s teacher training program, in which highly motivated teachers from our schools are given the opportunity to become trained in new methodologies. 
• Will work with both the teachers and the students, supplementing the teacher’s activities and supporting him or her with lesson planning. 
• Will be expected to attend teacher workshops that are sometimes held in the evenings or on weekends.

Parent-Teacher Coordinator/Director’s Assistant

This volunteer serves as the link between our organization and Colonia Nueva’s parents, students, and school staff. 

Requirements:

• Education: college degree and/or background in education or community development preferred
• Spanish Skills: strong
  

Duties to include:

• Will work in large part with our Parent Association, as well as with students and teachers, to facilitate group participation in life at the school. 
• Will attend school meetings, organize parent workshops, and help plan fundraisers, work with the youth group, and work directly with Colonia Nueva’s school director to implement greater change within the school. 
• May entail occasional visits to students’ homes, and will probably require an irregular work schedule (occasional nights and weekends, when parents are available to meet, for example). 

SITE: The DREAM Center

LOCATION: Next door to La Colonia Nueva school

English & Computer Instructor

The DREAM Center’s English and Computer Instructor works with local youth and adults to provide classroom, small group, and one-on-one instruction. 

Requirements:

• Education: college degree and/or experience with computers
• Spanish Skills: medium-strong
  

Duties to include:

• Will work in the lab with the students in our model preschool classes, taking them out of class in small groups to gain introductory computer exposure. 
• Will instruct one-on-one computer classes with community volunteers who assist the English & Computer Instructor daily
• Teach late afternoon or evening English classes to the adolescents and adults in the community.
• Will help plan and arrange English workshops for children lead by temporary or part-time DREAM volunteers. 

Montessori Preschool Classroom Assistant

Please note that training in Montessori education is required for this position.  The Montessori Preschool Classroom Assistant is paired up with one of the DREAM Center’s preschool teachers and works directly within the classroom environment. The Classroom Assistant will be one of a number of teachers participating in DREAM’s Montessori training program, in which highly motivated teachers from our schools are given the opportunity to become trained in Montessori methodology.  

* Salary positions available

Requirements:

• Education: college degree and Montessori-certification
• Spanish Skills: basic-strong
  

Duties to include:

• This Montessori-trained volunteer will spend a large portion, if not all of the school day, in a selected class assisting the teacher and introducing new activities and teaching practices. 
• Will work with both the teacher and the students, supplementing the teacher’s activities and supporting him or her with lesson planning. 
• Will attend all school meetings, workshops, and special events, and might assist with additional projects at the DREAM Center.

Sign Language Teacher/Classroom assistant

This volunteer will work in the model preschool classroom to teach sign language to our students, and work individually with our deaf and mute pupils.  Our school currently has three deaf and mute students enrolled, with more to register in the coming months. Fluency in sign language is required for this position. 

Requirements:

• Education: college degree and sign language skills
• Spanish Skills: basic-strong
• Sign Language Skills: strong
  

Duties to include:

• Will work intensively with these children inside the classroom environment 4 days per week, helping them to adjust to their surroundings and improve their communication abilities. 
• Will work alongside our current classroom assistant, a deaf and mute member of the community who knows limited sign language, and help train him further. 
• Additionally, one morning a week this volunteer will teach a sign language course exclusively for our deaf and mute students and their families.

Library Coordinator/Youth Director

The Library Coordinator is responsible for planning and facilitating all activities that take place in the DREAM Center library. 

Requirements:

• Education: college degree and/or teaching experience
• Spanish Skills: medium-strong
  

Duties to include:

• Will establish a set schedule and rules for library usage, with daily activities including tutorial sessions, reading groups, free library time and book checkout hours. 
• Will teach some classes and run certain small group sessions herself, while others will be run by fellow DREAM Center volunteers or teachers. 
• Will serve as Youth Director, coordinating all youth group programs.  Our youth programs vary – from newspaper committees to yoga classes and environmental clubs – so while the Youth Director will not be directly in charge of all programs, s/he will serve as overseer and make sure they are up and running. 

Director’s Assistant

The Director’s Assistant works directly with the Director of the DREAM Center in all of the center’s capacities. 

Requirements:

• Education: college degree and/or experience working with children
• Spanish Skills: strong
  

Duties to include:

• Responsible for administrative tasks, program planning, and community work, under supervision of the Director.
• Must have good communication skills, both oral and written, and must be highly proficient in Spanish. 
• Might also work directly in the classroom or with small groups of students (i.e. running a computer class or library activity). 

SITE: Batey Caraballo

LOCATION: Caraballo (A Haitian/Dominican community about 1 hour west of Cabarete)

Director of Educational Programs

The Director of Educational Programs serves as the voice of The DREAM Project in the Batey Caraballo. The Director of Educational Programs is responsible for overseeing our Montessori preschool, library and youth group programs.  This position offers the richest opportunity for cultural immersion, as this volunteer will live in the heart of a rural batey (sugarcane plantation) community and will work in large part independently during his/her year of service. 

Requirements:

• Education: college degree and Montessori teacher certification
• Spanish Skills: strong.
  

Duties to include:

• Manage our enormously successful Montessori school (overseeing teacher training, facilities management, purchase of supplies and site accounting).
• Run a youth program for motivated adolescents in the community.  Past youth programs have focused on issues such as HIV/AIDS awareness and environmental concerns, and have been funded primarily by youth fundraisers organized by the site volunteer and the students themselves. 
• Fluency in Spanish is required for this position, due to the isolated nature of the post and the intimacy with which this volunteer will be working with the community. 

Click here to download a volunteer application

More Info:

To Apply: Please send the completed volunteer application along with the $35 application fee and references to:

The DREAM Project

PO Box 4136

Ithaca, NY 14852

Expectations: The volunteer is expected to work Monday through Friday for the duration of the school day. Volunteers will be responsible for completing a community assessment diagnostic, planning activities and lessons, planning special community events and youth excursions and organizing after-school classes for the youth.  The volunteer will also be expected to work on community development by organizing fundraisers for the school.

Costs:

The cost of the DREAM volunteer program includes accommodations, meal stipend, all required training workshops, oversight at the local schools, volunteer cultural excursions, and a living stipend (which is allocated to cover expenses such as cell phone use, transportation to worksites, laundry, etc.) Please note this fee does not include airfare, health insurance, or personal spending money! There is an additional fee of $100 if you wish to be picked up/dropped off at the Airport.

The cost of the program will depend on site location and accommodations. Volunteers who are placed in Cabarete will pay a higher price due to a higher cost of living. Depending on availability, most volunteers will either be placed in a Dominican homes or personal residences in local hotels and resorts with the corresponding program fees:

Cabarete (personal residences): $10,000 for the year.

Caraballo (Dominican home stays): $7,000 for the year

Step by Step Program:

Currently, the system adopted by public schools consists of copy and rote, which has proved to be very ineffective. The volunteer will work side-by-side with a Dominican teacher to implement child-centered activities that follow the methodology outlined by Open Society’s Step by Step Program.

The Step by Step Program is an education reform program that introduces child-centered, individualized teaching methodologies, and supports community and family involvement in preschools and primary schools.   The primary objective of the position is to model activities so that Dominican counterparts have support in incorporating new interactive methods into the classrooms and improve literacy rates.

Please contact volunteer@dominicandream.org for further information.

Other Positions Available Outside of Our Volunteer Program

Site: Flexible Location

Translator

Requirements:

• Fluency in both speaking Spanish and proficiency in formal writing; translating experience desirable.
• Good communication and organizational skills are necessary

Length of position:

          Flexibility in schedule (but must meet deadlines regularly)

Job description:

          DREAM is seeking two volunteers to assist in translating important documents such as newsletters, brochures, marketing material, application materials as well as other administrative documents. The volunteers would also be responsible for creating a bilingual component of the website. This position may allow volunteer to offer their services part-time or on an “as needed” basis while living outside of the Dominican Republic.

Please contact volunteer@dominicandream.org for more information.